Ester v. National Home Centers, Inc.

967 S.W.2d 565, 61 Ark. App. 91, 1998 Ark. App. LEXIS 155
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 18, 1998
DocketCA 97-1081
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 967 S.W.2d 565 (Ester v. National Home Centers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ester v. National Home Centers, Inc., 967 S.W.2d 565, 61 Ark. App. 91, 1998 Ark. App. LEXIS 155 (Ark. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Sam Bird, Judge.

Eugene Ester appeals a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission holding that he was not entitled to benefits for his work-related injury because he failed to prove by a preponderance of the credible evidence that his injury was not substantially occasioned by the use of illegal drugs. Appellant argues that the Commission’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence and that Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(5)(B)(iv) (Repl. 1996) violates his constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.

When reviewing a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the findings of the Commission and affirm that decision if it is supported by substantial evidence. Clark v. Peabody Testing Serv., 265 Ark. 489, 579 S.W.2d 360 (1979); Crossett Sch. Dist. v. Gourley, 50 Ark. App. 1, 899 S.W.2d 482 (1995). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Carroll Gen. Hosp. v. Green, 54 Ark. App. 102, 923 S.W.2d 878 (1996); Wright v. ABC Air, Inc., 44 Ark. App. 5, 864 S.W.2d 871 (1993).

Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-102(5) (B)(iv) (Repl. 1996) provides:

“Compensable injury” does not include:
(iv)(a) Injury where the accident was substantially occasioned by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of physician’s orders.
(b) The presence of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of a physician’s orders shall create a rebuttable presumption that the injury or accident was substantially occasioned by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of physician’s orders.
(c) Every employee is deemed by his performance of services to have impliedly consented to reasonable and responsible testing by properly trained medical or law enforcement personnel for the presence of any of the aforementioned substances in the employee’s body.
(d) An employee shall not be entitled to compensation unless it is proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs utilized in contravention of the physician’s orders did not substantially occasion the injury or accident.

In the instant case, the evidence showed that appellant drove a truck delivering materials for appellee National Home Centers. On Tuesday, March 28, 1995, early in the afternoon, the truck appellant was driving failed to negotiate a curve on an exit ramp of 1-40 and turned over. Lumber littered the highway. The police officer who investigated the accident testified that there were no adverse weather conditions; that he smelled no alcohol on appellant; that there were 150 feet of “scuff” marks on the road but no skid marks; and that appellant was going too fast for conditions.

Appellant sustained a broken leg and was taken by ambulance to Arkansas Baptist Medical Center where they performed a “rapid urine drug screen” for alcohol, illegal drugs, and prescription drugs used in contravention of a physician’s order. There was evidence that appellant had been given morphine before the urine for the drug screen was obtained. The drug screen was positive for opiates and cocaine metabolites.

Appellant testified that, for the first time in several years, he had smoked cocaine the Friday night before the Tuesday accident. He had worked all day on Monday, and he had gone to work at six a.m. the day of the accident. He said he had made several deliveries and driven approximately 300 miles without mishap before the accident. He had then gone to Quality Lumber and picked up the load he was carrying when the accident happened. Appellant claimed that the lumber had been loaded improperly and had shifted, causing his truck to turn over. However, appellant admitted that he and a fork-lift driver had strapped the load down themselves.

The administrative law judge noted that the positive drug screen raised a rebuttable presumption that the injury or accident was substantially occasioned by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of a physician’s order. However, he found that, “other than the positive drug screen, there is simply no other evidence to show that the accident was substantially caused by the use of illegal drugs.” The Commission reversed and held that appellant had failed to rebut the presumption that the injury was caused by illegal drugs. The Commission also considered and rejected appellant’s argument that Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(5) (B) (iv) violated his constitutional rights of due process and equal protection. Therefore, benefits were denied.

On appeal, appellant first argues that the Commission’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence because the Commission improperly disregarded his testimony, and because a cocaine metabolite is not cocaine. Appellant’s brief contains a great deal of technical information about cocaine, its psychoactive component, its metabolites and their significance. However, there is no indication in the record that this evidence was ever presented to the Commission. Arkansas Code Annotated section 11 — 9— 705(c)(1)(A) (Repl. 1996) requires all oral evidence or documentary evidence to be presented to the Commission at the initial hearing on a controverted claim. See Chambers v. Int’l Paper Co., 56 Ark. App. 90, 938 S.W.2d 861 (1997); Death & Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund v. Whirlpool Corp., 39 Ark. App. 62, 837 S.W.2d 293 (1992). All legal and factual issues should be developed at the hearing before the administrative law judge. American Trans. Co. v. Payne, 10 Ark. App. 56, 661 S.W.2d 418 (1983); Walker v. J & J Pest Control, 6 Ark. App. 171, 639 S.W.2d 748 (1982). Consequently, we do not consider the technical evidence in appellant’s brief.

Neither can we agree with appellant’s assertion that the evidence was not sufficient to raise the statutory presumption or deny benefits on that basis. On January 21, 1998, we handed down two opinions affirming the Commission’s conclusion that marijuana metabolites in a person’s urine was sufficient to invoke the rebuttable presumption that the injury or accident was substantially occasioned by the use of the drug. Graham v. Turnage Employment Group, 60 Ark. App. 150, 960 S.W.2d 453 (1998); Brown v. Alabama Elec. Co., 60 Ark. App. 138, 959 S.W.2d 753

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Related

Flowers v. Norman Oaks Construction Co.
6 S.W.3d 118 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1999)
Ester v. National Home Centers, Inc.
981 S.W.2d 91 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
967 S.W.2d 565, 61 Ark. App. 91, 1998 Ark. App. LEXIS 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ester-v-national-home-centers-inc-arkctapp-1998.